Human Services Fund

In recognition of the significant need for human services support in our community, the Burien City Council allocates a portion of the General Fund budget to grant funding to organizations delivering direct service in our community.

2019–2020 Grant Cycle

$6.50 per capita is allocated to the Human Services Fund, equaling $345,000 per year. The City will also receive close to $45,000 per year in human services funding from the federal government’s Community Development Block Grant funding. The total allocation of funding per year for the 2019–2020 grant cycle is $390,000.

The City received 58 eligible applications requesting $939,397. The Commission recommended 37 organizations receive funding. Council approved the Commission’s recommendations for funding on October 1, 2018. The next application cycle starts in 2021. Funds will be dispersed to organizations quarterly over a two-year period.

Summary of Year End Results

How are Organizations Selected for Funding?

In 2017, Council launched the Human Services Commission, a seven-member advisory board that evaluates the applications for human services funding and advises Council on human services issues. The human services manager to helps manage the human services funding process, supports the commission, coordinates human services for Burien residents, and provides some direct service.
Every two years, the Council determines human services funding priorities. For 2019–2020, funding priority was given to programs that help Burien community members:

Have secure, affordable housing and food adequate to their needs

Be safe from violence within their families, neighborhoods, and communities

Be healthy, physically, and mentally

Have the education and job skills that lead to employment in living wage jobs